Tom Phillips in Rio de Janiero - The Guardian Friday 20 May 2011
Hundreds of environmental protection officers are being deployed in the Brazilian Amazon after government satellites detected a sudden, unexpected surge in deforestation.
On Wednesday, Brazil's environment minister Izabella Teixeira announced the creation of a "crisis cabinet" to crackdown on illegal logging in the world's largest tropical rainforest, after satellites registered a 27% hike in Amazon deforestation between August 2010 and April this year compared with the previous year.
"The order is to suffocate environmental crime," said Teixeira, following the release of images that showed at least 1,848 sq km of rainforest had been destroyed, compared with 1,455 sq km a year earlier.
Satellite data painted an even more disturbing picture of deforestation in March and April this year when nearly 593 sq km of forest were lost – an increase of over 470% compared with the same period in 2010.
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